We always assumed that the Dutch Kitchen got its name because it is somewhat near Pennsylvania Dutch Country. During our last visit, manager Tom Lekulic confided that when his father-in-law, John Morgan, moved the original dining car to this location, the move and start-up costs were so expensive that he could not afford to buy a new sign. So he simply used the old sign that had been on the diner – “Dutch Kitchen”; and so it has been for thirty years!

An extremely convenient place to eat along I-81 just south of the junction with I-80, the Dutch Kitchen is part-diner (the original building, now the smoking area), and part family-style restaurant decorated to the hilt with country crafts for sale. We never can leave without at least one needed speckle-ware pitcher or silly kitchen homily to bring back as a gift for a friend.

The menu is a large one that ranges from bacon and eggs in the morning and hamburgers at lunch to such real local specialties as homemade chicken and turkey pot pie (a kind of stew with big soft noodles), smoked pork chops, ham and cabbage casserole, and dessert of gooey-bottomed shoofly pie. The turkey dinner is especially delicious, made from daily-roasted turkeys, a mild bread “filling” (the regional term for stuffing), and genuine mashed potatoes. “My ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch,” said Tom’s wife Jennifer Lekulic, explaining the presence of chow-chow, pickled vegetables, peppered cabbage, and serious apple butter on the menu.

Although we always have shoofly pie for dessert, we were intrigued by another item that Tom recently added to the menu, the “atomic banana split.” Tom is a self-confessed banana split fanatic, and this heap of ice cream, syrup, bananas, and whipped cream, arranged vertically rather than horizontally, is of truly atomic proportions.

"Cream Chip Beef over toast is the weekend breakfast special at Dutch Kitchen."
Cliff Strutz

"We tried several pies, the best of which was the sweet, sticky, homemade shoofly pie."
Cliff Strutz

"A single slice of scrapple is a large portion size, dwarfing the accompanying sausage patty."
Cliff Strutz

"A big family dining room with tables has been added, but you can still eat at counter or in booths of the original dining car that was the Dutch Diner in 1971."
Michael Stern

"'Wilcom' says the sign heralding the Dutch Kitchen."
Michael Stern

"The Dutch kitchen started as a small diner, which is now almost completely enclosed by the larger restaurant and dining room. For travelers along I-81 in southern Pennsylvania, it is a landmark."
Michael Stern